Dive Brief:
- Sarafina Network, a management company for gas station convenience stores in Alabama, agreed to pay $40,000 to settle allegations by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that a store manager, employees and customers routinely mocked a neurodivergent cashier with multiple disabilities, including autism, vision difficulties, anxiety and seizure disorders, EEOC announced Aug. 11.
- Per the complaint in EEOC v. Sarafina Network LLC, the cashier worked at the Double Springs store. When a management position became available at another location, the cashier told his manager he was interested. The manager allegedly threw away his application and allegedly told him he was “too disabled to qualify” and that the company didn’t need any more disabled people around.
- A short time later, the cashier experienced a “vacant stare” seizure at work and was allegedly required to submit a medical release before he could return. After he submitted the documentation, the district manager fired him, allegedly telling him his disabilities were too much of an issue, the lawsuit said.
Dive Insight:
The EEOC sued Sarafina Network for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by subjecting the cashier to a hostile work environment and firing him on the basis of his disabilities.
Sarafina also allegedly retaliated against the cashier, EEOC said. According to the complaint, the store manager and other employees often called him derogatory names because of his vision disabilities and anxiety disorders.
Additionally, the store manager and co-workers would sneak up on the cashier and make loud noises to trigger his anxiety, EEOC alleged. He asked the manager to stop the harassment, but the manager refused, according to the complaint.
The store manager also allegedly refused to schedule him for work without a doctor’s note after he said he made an appointment with EEOC.
“Bullying, especially on the basis of an employee’s disability status, should never be tolerated in the workplace,” EEOC Regional Attorney Marsha Rucker stated in a press release.
The term “neurodivergent” is not a medical term and describes people whose brain differences affect how their brain works, the Cleveland Clinic explains in a post.
While neurodivergent individuals have different challenges and sometimes accompanying medical disorders, they also have different strengths that may allow them to outperform neurotypical peers in detail-oriented and creative work, particularly in the tech labor market and fields such as cybersecurity, AI and supply chain logistics, experts previously told HR Dive.
However, although most employers have said they would hire a neurodivergent employee, few receive formal training on working with or managing neurodivergent workers, according to a 2024 study by Eagle Hill Consulting.
Neurodivergent workers may also face harassment, an illegal workplace issue that can be prevented and if it does occur, promptly and appropriately addressed.
To stay in compliance with the law and prevent harassment, EEOC urges employers to have a clear, easy-to-understand anti-harassment policy; train all employees, including supervisors and managers, on the policy; and make sure the policy is consistently being enforced.
In this case, Sarafina allegedly failed to maintain any anti-harassment or anti-discrimination policies or train employees about their obligations under federal anti-discrimination law, EEOC said.
Under the consent decree, the business must create and disseminate a written policy that, among other things, expresses its “strong and clear commitment” to not tolerating harassment on the basis of any physical, psychological or emotional disability.